The Bangalore that we know today is a rather anglicised version of 'Bengaluru'. Folklore states that the word stands for 'benda kaaluru' or the city of boiled beans - named so by a hungry king who stopped for a meal there. However, ninth century historical inscriptions refer to the place as 'Bengaval-uru' or the 'City of Guards'. Today the word 'Bangalored' implies companies in the US downsizing as jobs shift to BPO centers in India!

First settled under the Ganga dynasty, Bangalore was a part of the Chola and Hoysala empires before it came under the Vijayanagar rule. Kempe Gowda I is known as the founder of modern Bangalore as he built a fort on the site of the present day city. It then passed through Maratha, Mughal and Wodeyar hands before becoming part of the Kingdom of Mysore in 1689. Subsequently, Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan ruled the kingdom, before losing to the British. Bangalore was handed back to the Wodeyars as a part of the Kingdom of Mysore in the 19th century.

This was also boom time for Bangalore where migrant Tamil workers from neighbouring regions came to settle. This is the reason Bangalore speaks Kannada and Tamil with equal fluency.

Bangalore is famous for its gardens, so a visit to Cubbon Park and Lal Bagh are a must to get an idea of how lush greenery can provide a welcome respite to concretisation. The Vidhan Soudha, the Bangalore Palace, and Tipu Sultan's summer palace and the Fort are some of the important buildings of note. The ISKCON Temple complex and the Bull temple draw visitors from all over the country. Other attractions close by are the Sri Sathya Saibaba ashram at Whitefield, the Bannerghatta National Park and the scenic Nandi Hills.

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